Drone Hunters

In the little town of Colorado, Deer Creek, there is going to be a community-wide vote that will decide whether or not to issue hunting licenses for drones. One hundred dollars will be rewarded to “drone hunters” who shoot down drones and are able to give evidence in the form of “identifiable parts,” whose characteristics and design are compatible with the craft known to be “owned and operated by the United States federal government,” states Vice.com

In response to the illegal nature of drone hunting, resident Philip Steel questioned, “Is it illegal? Of course it is. But it’s also illegal to spy on American citizens. If they fly in town, we will shoot them down.”

Philip Steel wrote the ordinance after he learned that the FAA would be allowing drones to inhabit domestic airspaces.

Some town officials and citizens are worried that the quick growth of domestic drones will threaten personal privacy. While others believe that Drone Hunting is an act in agreement with the concerns of privacy groups, civil liberties activists and many state and federal lawmakers. Those “pushing the Deer Trail ordinance argue that citizens must resist the unprecedented surveillance capabilities brought by drones,” says the Washington Post.

However, some believe that drone hunting is being promoted in order to give the town notoriety, potentially leading to a lucrative town festival.

“We would be home to one of the world’s first drone hunt,” said town clerk Kim Oldfield. “It sounds scary, and it sounds super vigilante and frightening…the real idea behind this … is it’s a potentially fun moneymaker, and it could be really cool for our community and we’ve needed something to bring us together, and this could be fun,” she said.

However, when news of the proposed ordinance surfaced, the federal Aviation Administration told Deer Trail to abandon its plan or face retribution.

A drone “hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, and it could collide with other objects in the air,” the FAA statement said in part. “Shooting an unmanned aircraft could result in criminal or civil liability, just as would firing at a manned airplane”.

Some view the ordinance as a protest against having their privacy violated.

“I don’t want to live in a surveillance society. I don’t feel like being in a virtual prison” he said, explaining his motivation.

The drone industry’s leading trade group, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, has had no comment on the Deer Trail ordinance.